Eggplant is a precious vegetable in the kitchen: it is used as an accompaniment, fried, in sauces (including pasta alla norma) and in many hearty dishes such as the famous caponata. Therefore, it is worth trying to grow them, also because it is a plant that can give a lot of satisfaction in the garden.
The plant is part of the Solanaceae family, related to tomatoes and peppers, we have already explained it in detail how to grow eggplant according to the method of organic farming, rather here we try to give some useful tips on which crop varieties to choose if you want to put eggplant in the garden.
Indeed, eggplants are not all the same: there are round, elongated, purple or white. Here is a summary of some types. It would be impossible to describe here all the existing eggplants, I will name only a few that are quite common and interesting.
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Contents
eggplant variety
We have discovered some interesting varieties of eggplants that I suggest you try to plant in your garden, if you have any others that you particularly like, write them in the comments to the post.
- Eggplant egg white (egg white) . Round and oval fruit, not very elongated, firm pulp with very few seeds. Delicate flavor, without bitterness, with very few seeds and a thin skin. Eggplants are excellent grilled, fried, in oil and parmesan. The unusual color, completely white, surprises favorably, the plant grows very tall and sturdy (you can put supports because it produces a lot, but it grows well even without them). The white eggplant seed is available here .
- shaded purple white eggplant . Light purple lilac eggplant with slightly ribbed round fruits. The fruit is large and with few seeds, not at all bitter. The plant is vigorous and definitely productive, among the easiest to grow. Organic white eggplant seeds can be found here.
- purple long eggplant . Plant that produces very well (it is better to think about the supports) and reaches 80 cm in height, eggplant with a hanging dark purple, almost black, cylindrical and elongated fruit, of very good quality. The seeds of this variety have very good germination.
- Long black eggplant. The fruit can reach up to 30 cm, a typical eggplant for frying or roasting, the plants produce a lot and require wide planting and strong supports.
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Eggplant silk. Fruit of a light purple color with a tendency to brown, which clears up to white in correspondence with the attack. Silky eggplant is a local variety sought after in the kitchen for its soft flesh and thin skin.
- Palermo purple eggplant . Variety with black and very sweet round fruits, grown with little resistance to cold.
Different varieties of eggplants. Photos of the Resistant Pedagogical Garden
Characteristics of the different types
Eggplant varieties differ in many ways: the most striking is the color, there are black, purple and purple eggplants and even egg white eggplants. They are also characterized by the size of the fruit and its shape, which can be elongated or round, and by a series of characteristics of interest to cooks (flavor, degree of bitterness, presence of pips, thickness of the skin). The varieties of eggplant also differ from the point of view of cultivation: the size of the plants evolves, the need or not of adequate support and the gaps between the different rows, the resistance to cold and drought and the modifications of the vegetative cycle (there are early eggplants that bear fruit quickly or late, which stay longer in the garden). When choosing which eggplant to grow you should consider the climate of your area, a good idea may be to prefer local varieties or at least ask old farmers in your area what types of eggplants they use to cultivate.
Eggplant seed is usually sown in containers between January and May, transplanting the seedlings into the ground should be done from March to April, depending of course on the weather. You can find more information about growing eggplants on this page.